The power ministry will bank on storage facilities to provide electricity to rural India, Goyal said. “We will ensure that solar power generation would touch 100 gigawatt (GW) by 2019… pilot projects have been set up

India will not adopt a technology discarded by the Western countries even if it is clean energy, till we are convinced about its viability and safety, Piyush Goyal, minister for power, coal and renewable energy, said here on Thursday.

He also reiterated the government’s commitment to provide electricity to every household in India by 2019.

“This government would like to be cautious that we are not being saddled with something only under the garb of clean energy or alternate energy; something which the West has discarded and is sought to be brought to India,” Goyal said at the India Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Adding that the government is looking at all options on nuclear energy, Goyal said, “Nuclear has potential and opportunities for India. This government is considering all options. We are trying to see how we can address the nuclear liability restrictions.”

Underlining the importance of nuclear energy in India’s energy basket, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked scientists from the Department of Atomic Energy in July this year to ensure that India’s nuclear power capacity is tripled from the current 5,780 megawatt (MW) by 2023-24 and within the allocated budget.

The power ministry will bank on storage facilities to provide electricity to rural India, Goyal said. “We will ensure that solar power generation would touch 100 gigawatt (GW) by 2019… pilot projects have been set up to ensure that every house in tribal and remote area gets electricity… we will use large power storage technologies to provide power.”

The minister said that the power sector is likely to attract an investment of $250 billion (Rs 15 lakh crore) over the next five years in transmission and distribution, allaying banks’ fears that “efforts are on to improve the bankability of projects.”